


Pickup and Strung Out

by officialzeloswilder



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunkenness, Gen, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 20:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3703689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officialzeloswilder/pseuds/officialzeloswilder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After five months of watching him from the window, the rich boy smelling like a life she’d never dream of stepped onto the late night bus. In the cushions of the seats dirtier than even he probably was, he fell asleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pickup and Strung Out

He got on the bus in the party district and stumbled to the closest seat he could find. Half the bus separated them and Sheena could still smell the liquor all over him along with the sweet stank of perfume gathered by different conquests throughout the evening. The sticky tufts of bright red hair pressed down into the seat as he nuzzled into the flatness of the bus cushions.

It wasn’t unusual for the night shift crowd to become littered with the remnants of nocturnal debauchery sessions and this certainly wasn’t the first time she’d seen the man with the bright blue eyes and even brighter red hair. Enough late shifts and anybody would be familiar with him at five AM, prancing about on the corners of the streets outside of the clubs with a woman on each arm as they entered his luxury car or maybe his limo—it depended on his mood. She’d spotted a helicopter once outside a club and just assumed it was his. So, after five months of watching him from the window, the rich boy smelling like a life she’d never dream of stepped onto the late night bus and, in the cushions of the seats dirtier than even he probably was, he fell asleep.

And he stayed asleep. Sometimes his head bopped into the window but eventually that just led to him sliding down and lying completely on his side against the cushions. He slept through the next stop. And the next stop. And the _next stop_. It was when they were long away from the outskirts of anything sharing even an ounce of similarity to an upper class district that Sheena realized the rich boy wasn’t waking up to sobriety any time soon.

Her apartment was the last stop before the bus went back on route and into the deeper, shadier parts of towns. The parts of town that wouldn’t think twice about pickpocketing the rich boy too stupid to call a taxi or a friend when he was too drunk to stay awake. Even now she caught the man across the way from her eying the rich boy’s pants for the bulge of a wallet to steal. And it would be his own fault and, no doubt, this rich red guy would be able to make up for whatever lost income tonight with no issue. Still, Sheena liked to think he’d worked for the right to spend his nights how he liked and nobody deserved to get stolen from.

When the bus reached her stop she had already decided to take the rich boy home with her. She couldn’t handle the guilt if she turned on the news in the afternoon and saw a redheaded portrait titled with “FAMOUS RICH KID SUPREME FOUND SUPER DEAD IN BAD PART OF TOWN. VIDEOS FIND WORKING CLASS GIRL STARING AT HIM BUT TOO SELFISH TO HELP HIM OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF HER HEART. DEFINITELY A SOULLESS HARPY—THE WITCH HUNT STARTS AT DAWN.”

Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t say that. Regardless, when the bus rolled up to her district Sheena headed over to his seat and eased the rich boy’s arm around her shoulders and helped him up. He groaned something and a hot slap of liquor stank breath filled her nostrils. Swallowing the urge to vomit, Sheena dragged him off the bus after waving to the bus driver. The driver barely waited for Sheena’s feet to hit the ground outside before the door shut behind her and then the bus was off, back on its beaten path.

“Okay, rich uh… Guy…?” Sheena glanced up at him. His eyes cracked open and wandered down to her chest.

“Mmmm.”

“I will leave you on this street,” she snapped, cheeks heating up now. Maybe taking a strange man into her house was a really bad idea. Maybe she should just leave him on the street. Maybe maybe maybe—

Red’s eyes widened and he pushed away from Sheena to stumble into the wall and vomit all over the pavement. She watched as he grabbed at his stomach and slid down, almost looking ready to fall into the mess he’d made.

“Oh no no no. Don’t do that.” Sheena hurried over and hoisted him back up.

Another groan and a wobbly-headed motion to make eye contact with her. She sighed. “I’m gonna take you upstairs. Can you make it upstairs or do you want to sit here?” He swallowed and nodded, disjointed. “Yes to what?”

His lips smacked together. Cotton mouth already? Had he drank the whole club dry? “Sit for a sec,” he slurred.

“Yeah. I’ll bet.” Sheena rocked back on her heels and watched him carefully. He didn’t look like a mass murderer or any other sort of predator but when did they ever? It was comforting to know he didn’t look to be in any state to hurt her. He could barely stand. Even now his head was pressed into the wall and his eyes shut in hopes of dispelling any more waves of nausea.

“You got a name?” she asked.

His eyes cracked open and he nodded.

“Do I get to know it?”

His eyes shut again and he groaned something out.

“I didn’t catch that.”

“… Zelos.”

Sheena scrunched her nose up. “Weird.” She reached out and patted his back. He gagged. “Can you make the walk now?”

“Prolly not.” He struggled up to his feet anyway. Sheena quickly put her arm out to prevent his stumbling into the vomit on the sidewalk. He looked down at her, swaying, and wow he was handsome and close and—

His hand reached up to her cheek.

Oh wow.

He gripped her jaw line lightly.

_Oh wow._

Zelos leaned over and vomited all over the front of her work uniform.

“Oooookay!” Sheena stumbled back, hands lifted, belief suspended. Why did she take this mess off the bus? She was really a special brand of masochist these days. “Ooookaaaaay!”

“Sorry. Sorry.” Zelos shook his head. “Sorry… I’m—”

And again he leaned over and vomited all over the sidewalk.

“Yeah I bet,” she scowled. “Ugh. Look… Let’s just get you to the bathroom. Can you hold it in long enough to do that?”

Zelos nodded a few times, swirled what little saliva he could muster around in his mouth, and spit into his considerably sizable pile on the concrete.

She sighed. “C’mon then.” Her arm wrapped around his once more and, now with the new task of avoiding touching her ruined clothes, she escorted him up the side stairs of her apartment building up to the door. Zelos groaned and put his hand up on the wall as she fumbled for the keys until he was forced to put his palm tight over his lips. Sheena never unlocked her door faster in her life.

As soon as the door opened he stumbled in with a mission. “Second door on the left!” He quickly corrected course, ran into the bathroom, and fell to his knees in front of her toilet to puke properly.

Another sigh (she never felt more exasperated around anybody like she did around this guy) and she kicked the door shut behind her. From the corner of the couch she spotted a curious cat watching her as she stripped off her shirt—no cause for modesty when Zelos clearly wouldn’t be leaving the bathroom any time soon—and headed to the laundry room. “Hey Corrine,” she greeted her only roommate. “I brought home a… drunk.” Not a friend. Just a strange drunk man. What was she thinking?

Corrine meowed in distaste.

“Yeah. I don’t know either.” Sheena tossed the shirt into the washed and then tore off her pants and added those too. “I think I work too much. I’m not thinking clearly.” She snorted. “Obviously.” Sheena leaned down and dug into her dryer for a pair of shorts and a tank.

Once in clean clothes she braved the bathroom. Zelos leaned into the toilet, face pressed to the rim, and shoulders shaking. She padded over and pulled him away to lean him up against the counter. He numbly lolled his head back and watched her with barely focused eyes.

“I see you a lot on the bus ride back from work.” She stood up and wet a washcloth before kneeling back down and wiping his face clean. “In the club district. I figured you would know how to drink by now.”

He sniffed. “Yeah. Well, I guess not.”

“Obviously not.” She rolled her eyes.

Zelos managed something like a smile. “You watch me?”

“You’re not very subtle.” Sheena tossed the washcloth down onto his lap. “Have you seen your hair?”

“Not lately.” He shut his eyes. “… It’s brown, right?”

“Funny.” She leaned back and settled against the tub. “You want me to call anybody for you? To pick you up?”

“Hey.” Her foot kicked out and nudged his leg. “Who should I call to pick you up?”

When he answered the words came out like from the bottom of a well. Dark and echoing, he mumbled, “Nobody’s coming for me.”

“What?” She frowned. “Why not? You’ve got friends. I’ve seen them. Just call one of them.”

He pursed his lips and shook his head.

“Well, you can’t stay here!” She scowled and motioned around. “This is my home. You’re just some guy! I picked you up so you wouldn’t get mugged you can’t just—Hey! Are you listening to me?!”

Zelos’s head slumped forward and sat against his chest. Passed out.

“Fine. Good riddance.” Sheena grabbed the edge of the tub and pushed herself up onto her feet. Corrine meowed from the doorway, still eying Zelos suspiciously.

Sheena pointed at Corrine and then to the unconscious rich redhead on her floor.

“Feel free to scratch him.”

Corrine scampered away before committing to any attack. Sheena sighed. “Well…” She turned to look him over. He definitely had some baggage to deal with and that made him a liability. Knowing he could break a door down if he truly needed to, Sheena still locked the bathroom door from the outside (all her inner doors had reversed setups. She’d done a few detoxes in her days in foster care to know the use of such a system) and put a doorstop under the frame. “That should keep him for a while.”

Corrine meowed in the kitchen.

“Shut up. It’ll keep him.”

She went to bed, exhausted and without a shower.

When the afternoon rolled around, so did she—out of bed and onto the floor. “Ughh…” She sat up, stretched her arms above her head, made note of the time (11:35AM) and then she stumbled up to her feet to head to the bathroom and brush her teeth.

In her grogginess she only slightly took note of the door stop and the locked handle. Something in her brain said, “Corrine was probably being difficult and antsy last night,” and forgot all about the drunk man she’d taken home the night before.

She stepped into the bathroom and screamed when she saw Zelos passed out on the ground by her toilet.

He started up in a panic and slammed his head up into the porcelain white of the toilet. Sheena slapped her hands over her mouth in vicarious pain when he reeled back and slammed his head into the counter instead, then scrambled back until his wild movements whacked his head into the wall.

“I’m so sorry!” Sheena yelled when Zelos finally stopped moving to wrap his arms around his head and coil up into a ball of agony.

“Stop yelling oh my God,” he grunted.

“Oh!” She corrected herself and whispered, “Oh. Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I forgot all about you.” Sheena pointed at the sink. “I need to brush my teeth.”

“Do you always scream before you brush your teeth?” Zelos removed one hand to glare at her. “And at fuckin 1000 decibel volume at that?”

“This is my apartment,” she reminded, trying hard to keep her voice firm despite the embarrassing heat creeping onto her cheeks, “and even if I do wake up every morning and scream at the top of my lungs that is just… You just have to deal with that.”

“Gee.” Zelos rubbed his forehead. “Thanks.” He struggled up to his feet. “Don’t do me any favors.”

Sheena frowned as he stumbled past her and out of the bathroom. She suddenly remembered her manners and asked, “Did you sleep okay?”

“Just brush your teeth,” he grumbled over his shoulder. Sheena peeked out of the bathroom just long enough to watch him settle into the couch. Corrine startled at the head of the headrest and only readjusted enough to ready for an attack in case Zelos tried anything funny.

She entered the bathroom and, tooth paste and brush in mouth, made a note of the damages from Zelos’s jumpiness moments before. A small mess of beauty products had fallen onto the floor from the counter but other than that it seemed just fine—wait…

On the floor just under the bathroom counter sat a brand new iPhone in a black case.

Sheena adjusted the toothbrush, knelt down, and grabbed the phone. No damage to it. That was good, nobody liked replacing a phone. She turned the phone over in her palms a few times before curiosity got the best of her. She tapped the power button and the screen brightened.

77 NEW TEXT MESSAGES  
27 MISSED CALLS  
15 NEW VOICEMAILS

So much for a guy who had nobody to call or pick him up.

Sheena focused on the background image—a picture of Zelos with a young girl with eyes just as blue and bright as his own. His hold on her was careful and Sheena assumed family, maybe a sister or a cousin, and shut the screen off. She set the phone on the counter and spit into the sink.

Peering out of the bathroom, she found Zelos was still sitting on the couch with his head in his hands and looking positively hung over. Good. He couldn’t get into any trouble that way. Sheena went back to her morning routine. She felt especially dirty after the night before anyway and needed every bit of leverage on the filth to deal with this guy.

When she was finished she headed out of the bathroom and tossed his phone onto his lap as she rounded through the tiny living room and into the still tiny kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs and some turkey bacon.

“You want some breakfast?”

Zelos gagged.

“I will take that as a nooo,” she hummed.

“It’s noon,” Zelos pointed out, “Why are you making breakfast?”

“This is my morning. I work nights.” Sheena plopped a pan onto the burner and received a groan from Zelos on the couch. “Which ended up working out in your benefit. What were you thinking yesterday?”

“Apparently I wasn’t.”

“Apparently not,” she agreed.

He lifted his hand up and tinkered with the edge of Corrine’s whiskers. Corrine yowled low in response and Zelos removed his hand quickly. “Heh. I don’t think your cat likes me.”

“Corrine doesn’t like anybody but me. Though I don’t think it helps that you reek.”

“Do I?”

“You smell like you had every club in the district pour out liquor for you and then you bathed in it.” She scrunched her nose up. “It’s rank. I bet the bus still smells like you.”

“What a legacy I’ve made.”

“Speaking of…” Sheena cracked an egg into the pan. Yolk sizzled at contact. “What were you doing on that bus? You obviously have money.”

“Money…” Zelos considered it. “It comes with a lot of connections. A lot of… bullshit. I just didn’t want to deal with it.”

She snorted. “Give it to me then.”

“Maybe I should.”

Zelos adjusted on the couch and sunk further into the cushions. Sheena frowned.

“You’re getting awfully comfortable in there…”

“You work nights, right?”

Sheena’s eyebrows pulled together, unable to spot the connection. “Yeah?”

“Then you don’t need to be anywhere until later?”

“Yeah…?”

“Mind if I crash here for a while?”

Sheena barked a laugh and didn’t bother shoving back the glee when she saw him wince at the volume. “Are you joking? Why would I do that?”

He didn’t even look up. Just a disembodied voice was what Sheena got when Zelos listed the proposition.

“I’ll give you $1000 if you let me squat her until tonight.”

“Deal.”


End file.
